How To Prevent Repetitive Watershoot Regrowth.

Question

My orchard is pruned annually in winter and this year a more aggressive pruning was employed. In the past, there has always been an excess of watershoots every summer (my trees look like a Phyllis Diller bad hair day))and I never seemed to get around to pruning them at that time; however, this year I made a concerted effort to prune the shoots in June and I pruned a pear tree twice in early June and early July. Now, by late July there is a plethora of regrowth in all my apple, pear, and plum trees that I am about to attack again. Is there never an end to this resurgence?

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Answer 1

Unfortunately, no. There isn't going to be an end in sight. Annual control will be necessary.

Heavier prunings will, often, cause waterspouts to show up more vigorously. This is, especially, true in older trees.

Most fruit trees have a producing lifespan of 15 to 25 years, with some specimens producing for far longer. If the trees are nearing that age, it may be necessary to look into replacing them with younger specimens.

Here is an article that will help:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/tgen/tree-sucker-removal-and-tree-sucker-control.htm